HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 2009-09-23, Page 19Bos offers new approach to illness
Dominiau• Milburn
signal -star staff
Katrina Bos was 29 -years -old
when she found a lump growing
in her breast. She had had lumps
before, but this one, she knew,
was different.
After watching her mother,
grandmother, and sister lose the
battle against breast cancer, Bos
had, for a time, resigned herself
to her fate— the disease was go-
ing to kill her, and the medicines
prescribed would be little more
than a band-aid over a wound
that required stitches.
But after a chance encounter
with an old friend whose knack
for understanding and healing in-
trigued her, Bos rewrote the path
of her own battle with cancer,
and in her version, she emerged
as the winner.
It's her personal story and in-
sights that set the tone for her
first book, What If You Could
Skip The Cancer?
"This was an important book
for me to write," said Bos. "I
come from a family where ev-
eryone has died of breast cancer.
When I found lumps 10 years
ago, I had to go a different route,
and I did."
What Bos discovered, she
says, is that there was more to
cancer and illness than just ge-
netics, eating and wellness hab-
its. She said what counts is what
goes on inside of us.
"It's about our thoughts, be-
liefs, ideals, and the inner strug-
gles that we have that can lead
to depression, isolation and all
kinds of illness," Bos said. "My
goal through this book is to give
people hope that cancer is not in-
evitable."
"The fear of cancer is ram-
pant," she added. "But, I don't
think it has to be."
Bos, a city girl at heart, has
spent the last 16 years raising
her family just north of Goder-
ich, and along the way she says
she has picked up each opportu-
nity to learn more about herself
through learning about others.
She's no stranger to sharing her
inner thoughts and inspirations
through writing. For the past two
years, Bos has been a contribut-
ing columnist to the local news-
paper, and has expanded her
reach through her personal web
site, www.katrinabos.ca.
The book has garnered posi-
tive response from readers who
have been affected by cancer, as
well as 'unexpected' praise from
members of the medical com-
munity.
"It's a outside -of -the -box way
of looking at things," she said. ",I
was worried it was too far out-
side the box, that I'd get flack
from medical field, but so far, it's
all been good. It really changes
Photo by Dominique Milburn
Katrina Bos' new book, What If You Could Skip The Cancer? is available at
several local businesses, as well as online.
how people look at things."
But it's not just those sick with
cancers that have been moved by
the book. Bos said she has heard
back from people caring for a
sick family member, or people
who are battling depression.
"It's not even just cancer. It's
people who are just unhappy in
their life." she said. "It's a tool
they can work with at home.
They don't only need a coun-
selor or drugs."
Bos was even slightly sur-
prised to find that even men were
taking away a positive message
from her writing, and added that
some readers have said, thanks
to her book, they have a better
grasp and understanding on how
to help people around them who
are sick, or suffering.
"It gives me confidence about
the message," she said. "It's like
taking some philosophy that
seems so out there, but when
you see it in your life, it works.
It isn't just about cancer—It's not
medical versus alternative. It's
beyond that. It's what we can
do besides whatever treatment
you've chosen."
Published by Nelson Publish-
ing and Marketing in Michi-
gan, the book has already been
shipped to readers internation-
ally, to places like Scotland,
England, and even Dubai. What
If You Could Skip The Cancer?
is available locally at Finches s,
Healthward Bound, and Signa-
ture Yams in Goderich, as well
as the Bayfield Bookstore and
Carlow Mercantile.
It's also available online
through both the Chapters and
Amazon books distribution web
sites.
For more, visit Bos at her web
site, www.katrinabos.ca.
Goderich Signal -Star, Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - Page 19
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